# Guitar Players: First Song You Learned? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 12, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215 "2008-01-12T00:49:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/1 "2008-01-12T00:49:17Z")
One of my New Year’s resolutions is to finally learn how to play the guitar I bought many, many years ago. So far (all 10 days of the year), it’s been going pretty well. My fingers hurt and my nails are entirely gone (I thought I could have them just short like they were when I played piano, but apparently, I have to cut them to bleeding length), but I can now make it from D to A and back without pausing overly long between them. Still, I want to ask those of you who have already gone through this part of the learning curve, what was the first song you ever played? ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/2 "2008-01-12T01:17:28Z")
“Let me tell you a story about a man named Charlie on one tragic and fateful day…” ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/3 "2008-01-12T01:22:27Z")
_hear the wind blow, dear hear the wind blow hang your head ooooover hear the wind blow_ Hey, I was 10. ---
**Author:** ![brendon\_small](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brendon_small/32/17101_2.png) [@brendon\_small](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brendon_small)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/4 "2008-01-12T01:27:59Z")
I’m pretty sure it was a John Denver song. I knew some chords before but I’m almost certain it was Leaving on a Jet Plane. Brendon Small ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/5 "2008-01-12T01:46:07Z")
I think it was Brown Eyed Girl, by Van Morrison. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/6 "2008-01-12T02:01:12Z")
_"Gee - Ell - Oh - Are - Eye - Ayy…Gloria!_" ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/7 "2008-01-12T02:11:55Z")
Back in Black by AC/DC. E…DDD…AAA ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/8 "2008-01-12T02:58:09Z")
In terms of actual chords, yeah, same here: stuff like Leaving on a Jet Plane, Abilene, that Kingston Trio song that **longhair75** mentioned…all the usual suspects. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/9 "2008-01-12T03:30:34Z")
_Needle in the Hay_, by the late **Elliott Smith**. That Royal Tenenbaums scene pratically inspired me to play guitar… ---
**Author:** ![Othar\_the\_Tooth\_Collector](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Othar\_the\_Tooth\_Collector](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Othar_the_Tooth_Collector)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/10 "2008-01-12T03:36:41Z")
“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/11 "2008-01-12T03:39:11Z")
“Dead Flowers” by the Rolling Stones. With D and A, you’re already halfway there. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/12 "2008-01-12T03:50:53Z")
Louie, Louie ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/13 "2008-01-12T04:10:02Z")
‘Green door’, closely followed by ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’. ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/14 "2008-01-12T05:32:22Z")
Eight Days A Week The chords are all easy. D, E, G. The hardest is b-minor, and that’s pretty easy. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/15 "2008-01-12T05:43:33Z")
I hate to admit it, but… Stairway to Heaven. The acoustic part up to the bridge. Then about a zillion Eagles songs, because half of them can be played with open C, G, Am, Em, E, and D. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Euthanasiast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Euthanasiast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euthanasiast)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/16 "2008-01-12T05:50:21Z")
Almost certainly an AC/DC song (possibly You Shook Me All Night Long or Back In Black) because they really are just about the simplest hard hitting songs to play. They’re the perfect choice for beginning guitar players because they have a great catalog of hard rocking songs and they are extremely easy to learn, much mose so than say Van Halen or Metallica. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/17 "2008-01-12T07:59:54Z")
Aside from some individual riffs on one string (like the main riffs from “Smoke On the Water” and “Iron Man”), I think the first song I learned all the way through was “Freebird.” “Horse With No Name” was a pretty early one too, though. It 's only two easy chords. ---
**Author:** ![Frosted\_Glass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frosted_glass/32/3926_2.png) [@Frosted\_Glass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosted_Glass)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/18 "2008-01-12T08:18:52Z")
Redemption Song ---
**Author:** ![Carson\_O\_Genic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Carson\_O\_Genic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carson_O_Genic)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/19 "2008-01-12T10:28:09Z")
A portion of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody #2,something my father often played on piano. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2008, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215/20 "2008-01-12T11:33:03Z")
Welcome to the Machine - Pink Floyd [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-players-first-song-you-learned/433215.md?page=2)